Bill wrote:Paradise Pup is not in my normal travel pattern, so I hadn't visited until a week ago. My friend wanted to try the hot dogs, and I had the same. The wait in line was 30+ minutes - and not justified for me by the dog that's served. Even if I lived in the area I wouldn't wait in line that long for the food. The burgers did look inviting. The dog was no better / no worse than what you can get in other places around Chicago. The fries were substandard but the onion rings were okay. Given the fact that it's a 30-minute ride from where I live - I won't be visiting once again any time soon. A GNR? Maybe the definition of "Great" has changed - but I don't see it.

Brother, the burger is what you needed to get. In fact, you still do. Go back, sink your teeth into their cheddar burger and then weep with joy. I did this past Saturday.

get the burger on the black bread... where did the cajun fries go?

Despite years of eating there, I never venture away from the burger.

Anyone care to share their opinion of their italian beef and their grilled chicken sandwich? Am i missing out, or are they standard fare?

Ghazi wrote:Despite years of eating there, I never venture away from the burger.

Anyone care to share their opinion of their italian beef and their grilled chicken sandwich? Am i missing out, or are they standard fare?

I've never had the beef, but I have had the chicken breast on numerous occasions, though not recently. It's one of the better chicken breast sandwiches you can get in a fast food place (or anywhere, for that matter). They marinate the chicken breasts ovenight and they have some good flavor. You're right, though. The burgers are the ticket.

Ghazi wrote:Anyone care to share their opinion of their italian beef and their grilled chicken sandwich? Am i missing out, or are they standard fare?

Can't help you with the chicken, but I did have the Italian beef a couple of times. Very good tasting sandwich, although not as good as Johnnie's ( whos is ? ) although IMO, it is better than other second-tier beef joints--- Roma's, Max's, Portillo's, Mr. Beef ( Harlem or Elmhurst Rd. )

Ghazi wrote:Despite years of eating there, I never venture away from the burger.

Anyone care to share their opinion of their italian beef and their grilled chicken sandwich? Am i missing out, or are they standard fare?

I know they make their beef on site, but I've never thought that it's anything special (decent though). On the other hand, their chicken teriyaki sandwich is excellent . . . delicious marinade, nice size breast and moist. It rivals the quality of their burgers.

LAZ wrote:If you get to Paradise Pup and the line is too long or they are closed, Mrs. V's, just north, is a very good diner. Not fast food, so it won't help the folks who need a quick lunch, but it's a good sit-down option if you'd rather not stand in line.

And just around the corner, 2 blocks west on Oakton, is Taqueria Arandas, where you can get a solid al pastor taco coming from an actual pastor spit. Unfortunately the pastor meat is routinely cut from the spit in bigger batches and then griddled, but it's the only place in the vicinity to have a spit. Some day, I hope to work up the nerve and correct Spanish to suggest, to the rather unapproachable looking grill-man, a straight from the spit no griddle cut.

Taqueria Arandas
1721 E. Oakton Ave.
Des Plaines, Il.
847-390-0899

Arandas is pretty good and it is the only spit al pastor i've found in the area as well. The burritos are cheap at $4.10 and you can get it filled with al pastor. Another one which i've been wanting to go back to is Taqueria el Gallo de Oro:

http://www.yelp.com/biz/taqueria-el-gal ... es-plaines

They hand make their tortillas for a few of their house special quesadillas and have the more interesting cuts of meat.

Taqueria el Gallo de Oro
1186 Lee St
Des Plaines, IL 60016

There's also an El Famous Burrito across the street.

I haven't tried Taqueria el Gallo de Oro. I think I've misjudged it because the taqueria that was there before it was bad. I've never had a watery taco before that place. Good to know there's yet another taqueria option at that end of town.

Blasphemy Alert!


A schedule change made an LTH lunch out west impossible, but I did have some time in my day to stop at Paradise Pup on the way from one meeting to another.

Got a burger with cheddar (grilled onions, everything on it except tomato) and fries. Honestly, I'm not sure what all the gushing is about. Are char-burgers that rare here in Chicago that people get this worked up over them? I mean, the bun was really good, but the burger itself was no better than any char-burger I had growing up in NJ.

Am I missing something here?

jesteinf wrote:I mean, the bun was really good, but the burger itself was no better than any char-burger I had growing up in NJ.

Am I missing something here?

It sounds like you're missing New Jersey.

jesteinf wrote:Blasphemy Alert!


A schedule change made an LTH lunch out west impossible, but I did have some time in my day to stop at Paradise Pup on the way from one meeting to another.

Got a burger with cheddar (grilled onions, everything on it except tomato) and fries. Honestly, I'm not sure what all the gushing is about. Are char-burgers that rare here in Chicago that people get this worked up over them? I mean, the bun was really good, but the burger itself was no better than any char-burger I had growing up in NJ.

Am I missing something here?

Heretic! Buuuuuuurn him!!!

Charburgers are actually quite common in Chicago, but nobody seems to do it like the Manos brothers at Paradise Pup. The perfect patty, the perfect bun, and the perrrrrfect cheddar. I will tell you that in more than a decade of sharing this gem with family and friends, you are only the second person to come away not gushing about the place. Try again.

btw - what burger joints do you prefer in the area?

I think one of the problems I had with the burger was that the char-flavor completely overwhelmed the cheddar, so maybe I just got a bad burger.

My personal favorite burgers right now are at Sweets & Savories (foie and truffle mayo) and Duke's (breakfast burger, basically a Kuma-burger without the 2 hour wait).

Duke's
2616 N Clark St, Chicago
(773) 248-0250

jesteinf wrote:I think one of the problems I had with the burger was that the char-flavor completely overwhelmed the cheddar, so maybe I just got a bad burger.

My personal favorite burgers right now are at Sweets & Savories (foie and truffle mayo) and Duke's (breakfast burger, basically a Kuma-burger without the 2 hour wait).

Duke's
2616 N Clark St, Chicago
(773) 248-0250

JOsh,

Both of the burgers you mentioned are completely different styles than the ones served at PP. Maybe the place just isn't for you.

That might very well be. It's not that I didn't like it though. It was a perfectly fine char-burger, just nothing revelatory (although, like I said, the bun was fantastic and maybe the burger itself was a bit too charred to the point where I couldn't really taste the cheddar).

jesteinf wrote:Got a burger with cheddar (grilled onions, everything on it except tomato) and fries. Honestly, I'm not sure what all the gushing is about.

Thank you for having the courage to post what I've been thinking for some time. A good friend of mine lives about a 2-iron away from Paradise Pup. When I found out where PP was, I had him pick up a burger for me. I was intrigued by all the rave reviews. However, I was disappointed. It was a good burger, but it wasn't the revelatory experience it's been made out to be. Would I order the burger again? Yes. Would I wait 30-45 minutes in line for it? Oh, hell no!

I had the burger at Patty's this week, and I enjoyed it a lot. The best part was the bun, which was one of the best I've eaten. Soft, yet firm enough to hold the burger and toppings. Terrific.

I'm almost embarrassed to say it, but my favorite burger is the Sirloin Cheeseburger at Jack in the Box, with Swiss cheese and grilled onions. Every time I'm on the West Coast, I HAVE to have one. Carl's Jr. is pretty good, too. In-N-Out Burger is like PP to me; I just don't get it.

I haven't found the burger here that knocks my socks off. I'll forever be looking for that green door with the red neon sign that says, "BURGER".

jaybo wrote:

jesteinf wrote:Got a burger with cheddar (grilled onions, everything on it except tomato) and fries. Honestly, I'm not sure what all the gushing is about.

Thank you for having the courage to post what I've been thinking for some time. A good friend of mine lives about a 2-iron away from Paradise Pup. When I found out where PP was, I had him pick up a burger for me. I was intrigued by all the rave reviews. However, I was disappointed. It was a good burger, but it wasn't the revelatory experience it's been made out to be. Would I order the burger again? Yes. Would I wait 30-45 minutes in line for it? Oh, hell no!

I had the burger at Patty's this week, and I enjoyed it a lot. The best part was the bun, which was one of the best I've eaten. Soft, yet firm enough to hold the burger and toppings. Terrific.

I'm almost embarrassed to say it, but my favorite burger is the Sirloin Cheeseburger at Jack in the Box, with Swiss cheese and grilled onions. Every time I'm on the West Coast, I HAVE to have one. Carl's Jr. is pretty good, too. In-N-Out Burger is like PP to me; I just don't get it.

I haven't found the burger here that knocks my socks off. I'll forever be looking for that green door with the red neon sign that says, "BURGER".

I think this is question of style preference. I really do believe that PP turns out a textbook version of the Chicago hot dog stand char-burger. But, if you don't like that style, you're not going to love their burger. Other places that I believe do this style very well are Wiener & Still Champion in Evanston, Poochie's in Skokie and The Wiener's Circle in Lincoln Park. I love Patty's burgers, too but you can't really compare them to the burgers at Paradise Pup (well, you can but they are quite different). BTW, those buns at Patty's are baked in-house, which is one of the reasons why they are so wonderful.

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote:I think this is question of style preference. I really do believe that PP turns out a textbook version of the Chicago hot dog stand char-burger. But, if you don't like that style, you're not going to love their burger. Other places that I believe do this style very well are Wiener & Still Champion in Evanston, Poochie's in Skokie and The Wiener's Circle in Lincoln Park. I love Patty's burgers, too but you can't really compare them to the burgers at Paradise Pup (well, you can but they are quite different). BTW, those buns at Patty's are baked in-house, which is one of the reasons why they are so wonderful.

=R=

Don't get me wrong. I liked the burger at PP. I just didn't LOVE it. Perhaps my expectations were too high. I really don't have a preference for char-burgers vs. griddle burgers. A great burger is a great burger. I'm certainly willing to give PP another try. However, NO burger is worth waiting in line for up to an hour.

jaybo wrote:Don't get me wrong. I liked the burger at PP. I just didn't LOVE it. Perhaps my expectations were too high. I really don't have a preference for char-burgers vs. griddle burgers. A great burger is a great burger. I'm certainly willing to give PP another try. However, NO burger is worth waiting in line for up to an hour.

I'm not as huge a fan of Paradise Pup as some folks around here are but I do appreciate what they do. And I whole-heartedly agree with you on the wait. No burger is worth that long a wait. I cannot imagine pulling up to PP, seeing a line like that and actually staying.

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote:I cannot imagine pulling up to PP, seeing a line like that and actually staying.

If you worked in the area, you'd sing a different tune, considering the other close-by options (spoken with 15+ years experience working around there).

stevez wrote:

ronnie_suburban wrote:I cannot imagine pulling up to PP, seeing a line like that and actually staying.

If you worked in the area, you'd sing a different tune, considering the other close-by options (spoken with 15+ years experience working around there).

LOL! If I worked in the area, I probably wouldn't be able to get lunch at a place where I had to wait an hour for my food.

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote:LOL! If I worked in the area, I probably wouldn't be able to get lunch at a place where I had to wait an hour for my food.

=R=

I know what you mean, but I have many fond memories of going to PP, then taking my lunch and eating it in the nearby Isaac Walton League woods nearby on days when I could be gone a little longer than usual.

On the rainy afternoon that was Saturday, Justin and I had a couple hours to kill (and very hungry stomachs) between a wedding in Deerfield and a reception in Rosemont. After consulting with my handy LTH guide, we decided to give PP a try and boy am I glad we did. There was about a 20 minute wai and we were happy to wait out of the deluge that kept others away.

We both had swiss burgers with everything on dark rye. The bread was soft and delicious, but the burger was the star. Gorgeously charred, pink inside, greasy with grilled onions, and fabulous. The fries - meh - could have skipped them, but thank goodness for that burger...I managed to keep the memory of it in my mind all throughout a rather pedestrian meal (that I'm sure cost way too much) at the Intercontinental O'Hare. Thank you Paradise Pup!

I agree with you on the fries. I feel that their old seasoned fries were notably better. If PP started using fresh cut fries, I think I would eat there several times a week (a good or bad thing, I suppose). I doubt that's going to happen any time soon. The size of the establishment for one, and of course the pain of slicing a bunch of potatoes would probably wear a bit.

dak125 wrote:The size of the establishment for one, and of course the pain of slicing a bunch of potatoes would probably wear a bit.

Over at Gene and Judes, they have a wall mounted potato slicer. They stick a potato in, pull on a lever and French fry sliced potatoes dropped into a fry basket. It was so quick and easy, it wasn't as tedious a task as one would imagine.

On a wee side bar, I will guess there are frozen skin-on French fry cut potatoes that suggest they are fresh-cut when they are not.

Regards,

i miss the seasoned fries they used to have. the crinkle fries are just ok.

Crinkle cut fries at the Pup? This sounds like a reason to display some civil disobedience on the streets of Des Plaines!

Throwing my photos into the ring.. I found it to be a really good burger. By the time I had gotten there and waited, it had a lot to live up to..



I found the burger to be really good but, not something of legend.. And I can't hold this against the restaurant for sure. Everyone there was super nice, low key, it had no sense of snobbery..



The burger was very good.. Had a nice char, really enjoyed the onions.. The bun was a little dry and hard. I am never a fan of crinkle but, they were fresh out of the fryer and the accompanying sour cream and cheese sauce was a nice combo..

Here is my obnoxious too big photo.

I, for one, prefer the crinkles over the seasoned fries. Seasoned fries often get their crispness from a coating, and are generally too salty and don't taste like potato.

Crinkles, while usually a sign of being food-service frozen (although Superdawg breaks that rule, see elsewhere on this board), have more surface area to crisp. And don't have a nasty coating.

At the same time, I have yet to find too many things that don't taste good just seconds out of the deep fryer.